Brian Alfred “Future Shock”

Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe

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MILES McENERY GALLERY presents Future Shock, an exhibition of recent paintings by Brian Alfred. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with essays by Ridley Howard, Sarah K. Rich, and Erik den Breejen.

“We got to stop all men from messing up the land When won’t we understand
This is our last and only chance
Everybody, it’s a future shock”
-Curtis Mayfield, “Future Shock,” 1973

Taking its title from Alvin Toffler’s 1970 novel and Herbie Hancock’s 1983 album, Brian Alfred’s Future Shock embraces both of their messages and expands upon them. Toffler warns of an impending information overload as well as humanity’s inability to adapt to the ever-increasing speed of industry and consumerism. Alternatively, Hancock’s album welcomes the so-called information overload, praising the expansion of musical possibilities brought on by technology.

Alfred embraces the duality of Toffler and Hancock, exploring how progress and development have impacted our environment and society. These paintings exhibit a certain serene beauty, while simultaneously trembling with a foreboding sense of impending doom. From the colorful zest of endless laundry hanging off of the crowded balconies of a giant apartment building, to the quiet elegance of a cropped solar panel, to the soothing repetition of greenhouse fields—each work appears benign and tranquil on the surface, but upon closer inspection contains an underbelly of danger and caution.

Though Alfred’s influences date from over thirty years ago, his works make their message as relevant and topical as ever. Seed banks, gas explosions, floods, overpopulation, smog, and technology are the subjects that press his mind, making the viewer wonder: do we panic, do we collapse? Or do we stand watching the sunset, embracing the beauty of the polluted sky? How do we deal with this future shock?

BRIAN ALFRED (b. 1974 in Pittsburgh, PA) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1997 from Pennsylvania State University and his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1999 from Yale University.